Method and apparatus for metering and vaporizing fluids

A method of vaporizing two or more fluids in micro-fluidic quantities comprising the steps of:

• feeding two or more fluids to a micro-fluidic device comprising a semiconductor silicon substrate attached to a fluid supply source and a PCB board, the semiconductor silicon substrate comprising two or more bubble pumps for flowing a predetermined amount of fluid from the fluid supply source to fluid contact with at least one vaporization heater electrically connected to the PCB board for vaporizing the fluid in contact with and pumped to the vaporization heater by the two or more bubble pumps, the vaporization heater being made of a thin film resistor material and being separate from the two or more bubble pumps on the semiconductor silicon substrate, a fluid supply inlet from the fluid supply source in fluid flow communication with each of the two or more bubble pumps, and a vapor outlet adjacent to ends of the two or more bubble pumps in vapor flow communication with the at least one vaporization heater to provide a metered quantity of vaporized fluid rather than liquid through the vapor outlet, wherein the two or more bubble pumps each have a fluid flow path selected from a linear path, a spiral path, a circuitous path, and a mixture thereof from the supply inlet to the at least one vaporization heater, and wherein the two or more bubble pumps comprise a plurality of resistor heaters that are electrically connected to the PCB board and are operative by voltage pulses to heat less than 0.5 μm thick layer of fluid on top of the resistor heaters to a supercritical temperature without vaporizing a bulk volume of fluid in the two or more bubble pumps,
• operating the two or more bubble pumps to provide the two or more fluids to the at least one vaporization heater, and
• vaporizing the two or more fluids with the at least one vaporization heater.

A method for reacting and vaporizing micro-fluidic quantities of two or more different fluids comprising:

• providing a micro-fluidic device comprising a semiconductor silicon substrate attached to two or more fluid supply sources and a PCB board, the semiconductor silicon substrate comprising a bubble pump for each of the two or more fluid supply sources for flowing a predetermined amount of fluid from each of the two or more fluid supply sources to fluid contact with at least one vaporization heater electrically connected to the PCB board for vaporizing the fluid in contact with and pumped to the vaporization heater by each bubble pump, the vaporization heater being made of a thin film resistor material and being separate from each bubble pump on the semiconductor silicon substrate, a fluid supply inlet from each of the two or more fluid supply sources in fluid flow communication with each bubble pump, and a vapor outlet adjacent to ends of each bubble pump in vapor flow communication with the at least one vaporization heater to provide a metered quantity of vaporized fluid rather than liquid through the vapor outlet, wherein each bubble pump has a fluid flow path selected from a linear path, a spiral path, a circuitous path, and a mixture thereof from the supply inlet to the at least one vaporization heater, and wherein each bubble pump comprises a plurality of resistor heaters that are electrically connected to the PCB board and are operative by voltage pulses to heat less than 0.5 μm thick layer of fluid on top of the resistor heaters to a supercritical temperature without vaporizing a bulk volume of fluid in each bubble pump,
• operating each bubble pump to provide the two or more different fluids to the at least one vaporization heater,
• reacting the two or more different fluids on the at least one vaporization heater to provide a reaction product, and
• vaporizing the reaction product with the at least one vaporization heater.

A micro-fluidic device comprising a semiconductor silicon substrate attached to a fluid supply source and a PCB board, the semiconductor silicon substrate comprising at least one bubble pump for flowing a predetermined amount of fluid from the fluid supply source to fluid contact with at least one vaporization heater electrically connected to the PCB board for vaporizing the fluid in contact with and pumped to the vaporization heater by the at least one bubble pump, the vaporization heater being made of a thin film resistor material and being separate from the at least one bubble pump on the semiconductor silicon substrate, a fluid supply inlet from the fluid supply source in fluid flow communication with the at least one bubble pump, and a vapor outlet adjacent to an end of the bubble pump in vapor flow communication with the at least one vaporization heater to provide a metered quantity of vaporized fluid rather than liquid through the vapor outlet, wherein the at least one bubble pump has a fluid flow path selected from a linear path, a spiral path, a circuitous path, and a combination thereof from the fluid supply inlet to the at least one vaporization heater, and wherein the at least one bubble pump comprise a plurality of resistor heaters that are electrically connected to the PCB board and are operative by voltage pulses to heat less than 0.5 μm thick layer of fluid on top of the resistor heaters to a supercritical temperature without vaporizing a bulk volume of fluid in the at least one bubble pump.